Colleges

AMHERST — A regional organic farming conference that drew more than 1,000 visitors to the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus last year is set to return next month, highlighted by keynote speeches from a neurologist and a consumer activist. The Northeast Organic Farming Association’s summer conference, “Healing the Climate, Healing Ourselves,” will take place from Friday, Aug. 14, through Sunday, Aug. 16, at the university’s campus center and pond lawn. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who holds a medical degree from Bashkir Medical University in Russia and two post-graduate degrees in neurology and nutrition, will speak about how the digestive system may be responsible for increasingly common epidemics, …

AMHERST — High pitched frequencies may be the key to preventing hundreds of thousands of bats from being killed by wind turbine blades, according to a University of Massachusetts Amherst research team. Paul Sievert, a research associate professor in the department of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst, will head a team to build and test objects that mimic the larynx of a bat …

AMHERST — A University of Massachusetts Amherst doctoral student is looking to make some test subjects sweat. Jennifer Blankenship, a kinesiology doctoral student at UMass, is looking for participants for a study to determine whether a long period of exercise or several short periods of exercise are more effective at controlling blood sugar levels for adults with diabetes. Test subjects must be between …

With the recent passage of the USA Freedom Act last week, experts at local colleges said that while some of the new guidelines curbing government surveillance are a step in the right direction, the law may fall short …

HADLEY — While the eight members of the Hartsbrook School graduating class of 2015 prepared to receive their diplomas Saturday, faculty speaker Nicki Robb drew their attention to some of the four- and six-legged members of the school’s …

AMHERST — University of Massachusetts tuition may rise for the first time in three years, according to university system spokesman Robert P. Connolly. The past two academic years saw a tuition freeze thanks to what Connolly called an …

NEW YORK — Barnard College has decided to admit transgender women, becoming the latest women’s college to issue a new policy acknowledging the fluidity and complexity of gender. The policy, announced Thursday, says Barnard will consider applicants “who …

BOSTON (AP) — Harvard has received its biggest gift in school history — a $400 million donation from Wall Street hedge fund billionaire and alumnus John Paulson, the university said Wednesday. The endowment from Paulson will support the …

AMHERST — University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty cellist Astrid Schween will be the first woman to join the prestigious Juilliard String Quartet when she replaces a retiring musician who has been with the group since the 1970s. Schween, …

AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts Amherst this week will host scientists from the other side of the globe to discuss climate issues affecting the entire planet. From Tuesday to Thursday, UMass is holding joint workshops with visiting scientists from India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University on topics including water …

A University of Massachusetts food science researcher has won an award for developing a method of rapid pathogen detection in food. The researcher, Sam Nugen, engineered viruses to identify and separate microbial contaminants from food. His methods may help food manufacturers skip the wait time for safety test …

NEW YORK — On a recent bright spring morning, students admitted to the Barnard College Class of 2019 gathered on campus. As blue-and-white balloons fluttered in the breeze, the prospective freshmen attended panels and lunched on the lawn, …

SPRINGFIELD — A former Amherst College student expelled in 2013 after being found responsible for sexual assault is suing the college, arguing that a “deeply flawed” investigation failed to consider key evidence that proved his innocence. This is …